Favored
by HanaritsuKrizza
Summary: When he accepted the post of royal tutor, he vowed to give equal and unpatronizing attention to each of the princes, but the fourth prince was unconsciously proving it hard to accomplish.


_I do not own Oushitsu Kyoushi Heine/The Royal Tutor._

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"Hey _sensei_ , I've been wondering for a while but could it be that Leo- _nii_ is your favorite?"

Heine Wittgenstein looked up from where he was staring and met with a pouting glare from the youngest prince, Licht von Granzreich. He asked it nonchalantly, too natural and innocent to know if it had any deep meaning behind it, but the professor still took his time pondering about it.

"Hey Licht, what are you saying? There's no way Master would have a favorite." The third prince, Bruno von Granzreich, stood up for him and reprimanded his little brother like he always did1. But even he who displayed an obvious devotion to the professor didn't sound confident with his words. He chanced a glance at Heine as though he was asking him to affirm his words.

The second prince, Kai von Granzreich, only casted him an inquiring look and didn't say a word, though his expression was enough to know what he wanted to say.

Heine returned his gaze to the sleeping form of the fourth prince, Leonhard von Granzreich, who was completely unaware that he suddenly became the topic at hand. He was supposed to be occuppied with his studies, reviewing the lessons his tutor had provided him but apparently, the last test he took had drained all his energy and lulled him to sleep. He really was like a child sometimes.

"May I ask what made you say that, Prince Licht?" Heine asked curiously, shifting his gaze toward the prince.

The youngest prince seemed a little taken aback, probably not expecting the professor to ask such a question. "Eh? Because it's obvious! You're more lenient to him, it's unfair."

The professor tilted his head. It's true that he might be a little lenient, but as far as he knew, he was giving equal and unpatronizing attention to each of them. He wondered why the prince thought that way. "Could you please elaborate?"

"What I'm saying is, you're always paying more attention to him, you're always too soft on him, you put him first before anyone of us, you're spending the longest time with him, and you even asked the attendant to give Leo- _nii_ his favorite snack after your lessons. You're babying him too much!" Prince Licht responded while acting like a child throwing tantrums. It was at times like this that showed who the real youngest was among the four of them.

Prince Bruno gasped as he expressed his shock. "I didn't hear about that last one! How enviable!"

Heine chose to stay silent as he remained deep in thought. He didn't mean for his actions to come out like that. Yes, everything the youngest prince said was true and perhaps he really was a bit fond of Prince Leonhard, but he wasn't aware of how it showed as a sign of favoritism to the other princes.

He was not supposed to have a favorite. The court king made it clear on his request to treat them equally while grooming them for the throne. And Heine was professional enough to not let his personal opinion and sentiment surface and affect his methods of educating them. However, the fourth prince, without even realizing it, seemed to be proving it difficult to accomplish.

The reason Heine favored him was because he was so interesting in a lot of ways. He was a beautiful, perfect prince on the outside, yet has an inward arrogance and a pride as high as the tallest mountains. But behind his conceitedness and self-importance was a childlike behavior and a sensitive personality. At first, the professor found him, among all four of them, the hardest to handle with his constant declaration of not needing and accepting a tutor. He always refused to cooperate with him and tried to run away multiple times. He outright rejected his tutor's offer of building trust between them and expressed words of animosity toward the professor.

But after Heine had a peek of his inner thoughts and understood his true nature, he found himself becoming drawn to the prince. The fifteen year old boy was fully aware of his weaknesses, something Heine believed was a strength. If he knew what his weakness was, he was bound to think of ways on how to deal with it, whether he wanted to rid of it and improve himself or not.

Despite his previous impression, Heine was convinced that Prince Leonhard was struggling with complex emotions that made him act proud. In reality, he was a loving brother and grandson who thought dearly of his family. He has a pure and soft heart that wanted to put a smile on everyone's faces. He was a simple and innocent child who wanted to change his ways of living as a haughty prideful prince.

As the official royal tutor, Heine was naturally inclined to guide him.

"Hey _sensei_! Are you listening? Geez!" Prince Licht tried to get his attention, successfully tearing his gaze away from the sleeping prince. "That's it! That's what I'm talking about, you're always looking at Leo- _nii_ with such fondness! I'm always catching you looking at him like that, it's becoming suspicious."

Heine cleared his throat as he collected his thoughts. This was not good. What he's doing was only proving the youngest prince's accusations. "Forgive me, Prince Licht. It was not my intention to look at Prince Leonhard. I was only caught up with my thinking and just so happened that I was looking at his way," he reasoned out, though it only sounded like an excuse to him.

"Is that right?" The youngest prince narrowed his eyes, implying that he wasn't convinced at all.

"Yes, certainly," he politely bowed to him and hoped that he would drop the subject and let him continue the disrupted lesson.

Before Prince Licht could say more, a low grunt filled the room as the fourth prince stirred on his sleep. "Guillotine... guillotine... guillotine... Ahhh stop it!"

The three princes including Heine gaped at the fourth prince as he blinked owlishly at them. Even he, himself, was startled at his sudden yelp upon awaking from his nightmarish dream. A tint of crimson slowly colored his face when realization hit him. He was crouching and slightly shaking with embarrassment.

"Ahahaha. That's so funny. Leo-nii, you're so cute. Ahahaha." Prince Licht finally recovered from his shock and went to laugh at his blushing older brother.

"Don't laugh!" he said weakly, mortified with his shameful self.

"Leonhard, cute." Prince Kai also commented and nuzzled his younger brother's head, showing his great affection for him.

"Even _ani-ue_ , please don't call me cute," the younger prince rebutted, but he also leaned to his brother's touch, if only for a few seconds.

Prince Bruno stayed in his spot but gave them a tender smile as he watched the interaction of his brothers.

"Prince Leonhard, it seemed you developed a phobia with guillotine, it even haunted you in your sleep," Heine stated impassively, yet his tone was laced with light mischievousness and glee as though he was delighted to tease the prince.

Like what he expected, the fourth prince looked even more abashed when he eyed the professor. "Shut up! It's your fault, you sadist teacher!" His clear ocean blue eyes were a bit watery and they glowed so brightly at the sunset-illuminated room, Heine found them enticing to look at.

Perhaps this was also a reason why Heine was genial with the fourth prince. His expressions were simply alluring and enjoyable especially if he was the one to induce them. Ever since the professor learned how to handle the prince, he became interested in drawing out various expressions from him and had a relish to monopolize him just so he could witness his delectable reactions.

"If that's the case, should we end the lesson for the day so that princes could take your rest. Besides, Prince Leonhard seems to be too terrified to continue," Heine eventually announced, likely sounding as though he was pampering the fourth prince again. Fortunately, Prince Licht was too busy with his older brother to notice his blunder.

"Ahh! Shut it!" Prince Leonhard yelled, slightly grateful of being relieved with the lesson. "I'm out of here!" He put his hands on his face and quickly sprinted out of the door with his brothers following after bidding their farewells to the professor.

Heine watched as the princes took their leave, exchanging greetings with them in the process. However, before Prince Licht could step out of the room, he paused and faced the professor.

"Ah _sensei_ , I just want to tell you not to be mistaken." He sent him a cold scrutinizing gaze as he smiled almost eerily. "I'm not jealous because your favorite is Leo- _nii_ , I don't care who your favorite is, but Leo- _nii_ is my precious _nii-san_. He may be good at sports but he is very delicate. He is _The White Lily of Granzreich,_ the most beautiful in the western continent. I hope you know what I mean." He giggled and finally faced the door while shouting _"Tschüss!"_ as he walked away.

The professor was a bit surprised, intently taking the meaning of his words. As he ultimately came to understand, there were two things that he realized.

First, Prince Licht was really not what he seemed to be.

And second, Heine was not the only one who favored Prince Leonhard.

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I'm accepting any forms of reaction, from calm and normal to bloody and trashy, just send me a review if you have some. Thanks a lot for checking it out!

 _ps. I absolutely adore Prince Leonhard, sorry not sorry._


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